Sara Zewde is founding principal of Studio Zewde, a design firm practicing landscape architecture, urbanism, and public art. Recent and ongoing projects of the firm include the Mander Recreation Center Campus (Philadelphia, PA), the Midtown Activation Project (Seattle, WA), and Graffiti Pier (Philadelphia, PA). Zewde’s practice and research start from her contention that the discipline of landscape architecture is tightly bound by precedents and typologies rooted in specific traditions that must be challenged. Without rigorous investigation, these cultural assumptions will silently continue to constrict the practice of design and reinforce a quiet, cultural hegemony in the built form of cities and landscapes. Her projects exemplify how sensitivities to culture, ecology, and craft can serve as creative departures for expanding design traditions.

Zewde previously held faculty appointments at GSAPP, Columbia University and at the University of Texas School of Architecture. She holds the Master in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a master in city planning from MIT, and a BA in sociology and statistics from Boston University. She regularly writes, lectures, and exhibits her work and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Silberberg Memorial Award for Urban Design and the Hebbert Award for Contribution to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. While a student in the MLA I program at GSD, Zewde was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation; she also was recognized with a 2016 Artist-in-Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; and in 2018, was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s inaugural “40 Under 40: People Saving Places.” In 2020, she was named a United States Artists Fellow. Her work has been exhibited at the 2016 and 2018 Venice Biennale, in the Brazilian and U.S national pavilions.

Claire Martin is a landscape architect and associate director of the Melbourne studio of OCULUS Landscape Architecture + Urban Design, where she has led the successful delivery of a range of education, health, cultural, infrastructure and public landscape projects. She is a member of the Office of the Victorian Government Architect’s Victorian Design Review Panel and a contributing editor of Landscape Architecture Australia. Claire is a regular guest lecturer at the schools of architecture and design at the University of Melbourne and RMIT University where she has taught, is an invited critic, and is a member of the Landscape Architecture program advisory committee. Claire was a co-creative director of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture’s Festival of Landscape Architecture: This Public Life, which brought together thinkers and practitioners from the arts and sciences.

Misato Uehara, Ph.D., JLAU, JNLA, is an associate professor, vice-chair of Environmental design unit, the Social Research Center, Shinshu University.

He serves as the International Federation of Landscape Architects Asia-Pacific Region’s Chair of Climate Change Taskforce team and is the official delegate of the Japan Landscape Architect Union (JLAU) at the IFLA-APR council.

The 2011 Tohoku Disaster brought a new and challenging theme to an area devastated by a large-scale natural disaster. His study, funded by the Japan Scientific Research, used the McHarg’s planning process and 1980s’ Japanese ecological database for holistic land-use planning. Fukushima prefecture, Shinchi-town chose the most suitable residential relocation sites from all of its lands by citizen participation, whereas many other towns used surplus land of the existing city plans for relocation sites. His study proved that Shinchi-town sites are robust for not only tsunamis and earthquakes but also other natural disasters. This town had recouped its population to pre-2011 levels in 5 years, while the population of other disaster-affected municipalities was reducing. This proves that landscape initiatives are important for regional resilience in disaster reconstruction.

He received her Ph.D (Design). from Kyushu University. After the Ph.D. program, he worked with Kobe Design University. He has published in both Japanese and English professional journals：Landscape Research Japan, International Review for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, and Springer Book, etc.

Chingwen Cheng, who assumed the role of director at the Stuckeman School on July 1, 2023, has an impressive background in landscape architecture, urban design, and environmental design. Prior to her current position, she served as the program head and associate professor at the Design School at Arizona State University. Cheng is a passionate advocate for climate justice, emphasizing co-designing nature-based solutions with communities.

Her research has been well-funded, with grants from organizations such as the National Science Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation. As a Landscape Architecture Foundation Case Study Investigator, she documented landscape performance in sustainability outcomes. Cheng also founded and directed the Hydro-GI Lab, which evaluates the design process and outcomes of nature-based solutions for climate justice. Her work includes assessing social-ecological landscape performance, investigating sustainable urban water systems, and developing the “Climate Justicescape” assessment framework for green infrastructure investment.

Cheng’s interdisciplinary collaborations have contributed to our understanding of green infrastructure and stormwater control measures. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and participated in global research networks. Notably, she chairs the Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Resilience in the Anthropocene Design for Justice thematic working group and is involved in the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) Sustainable Cities and Landscapes (SCL) initiatives.

As a Registered Professional Landscape Architect and LEED-Accredited Professional, Cheng integrates co-design processes in watershed planning, stormwater management, and community design. Her accolades include the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Illinois Chapter Honor Award, and her students have received recognition as well. Cheng actively contributes to climate action-focused groups within ASLA, demonstrating her commitment to environmental justice.

With a doctorate in regional planning, a master’s degree in landscape architecture, and a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and landscape architecture, Cheng brings a wealth of expertise to her leadership role at the Stuckeman School.

Gini Lee is a landscape architect, interior designer and pastoralist and is Professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia and was the Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture (2011- 2017). Prior to this she was the Professor of Landscape Architecture at Queensland University of Technology (2008-2011) and Head of School at the University of South Australia (1999-2004), moving to academia after many years in Landscape Architecture and Interior Design practice and consultancy based from her Melbourne studio.